FTM - Breastfeeding advice

Your milk is coming in, you’ve no need to worry. Keep putting baby to breast and responsively feeding

On average it takes 5 days for your milk to come in, but it can take up to 12. So it'll be colostrum initially, and then for another week you have transition milk which is a mixture of the two. Mature milk comes in after a week or two.

Keep an eye on the number of wet and dirty nappies as that's how you know if they're getting enough. They have tiny tummies and will feed little and often

Milk takes 3-5 days to come in. That’s what you’re seeing — the start of milk.

Do NOT stress about what you pump. What you’re able to pump will NEVER be as much as your baby can get out. They are way better at extracting milk than a pump!! It’s more common for moms to only pump .5-2 oz per session than it is to pump 3+ oz per session.

Newborns don’t eat much AT ALL!!! Their stomachs are TEENY! And colostrum is notoriously hard to pump out for most people, so don’t stress! Unless baby is not latching at all or is super fussy after a feed or isn’t having wet and dirty diapers, you are FINE and producing PLENTY!

If you have pain during latching or feel it isn’t deep enough, see a LC or google best latching techniques & check for tongue and lip ties. (I would look up deep latching techniques anyways!!)

Please reach out if you have any questions! And yummy mummy fb group is full of helpful people. :) Don’t stress!

If you feel like your milk has dropped at any time, power pump. :) 20 min on, 10 off, 10 on, 10 off, 10 on.

Supplements rarely work for people and are 99% marketing. The only tried & true method for increasing supply is feeding & pumping more. If you’re feeding straight from the boob,

Trying to lose weight can decrease your supply. When you get your period, it’s normal for your supply to dip for that week.

Milk is made from your blood, so your hydration — bar just staying hydrated like a normal person — has little effect on your supply.

If your baby seems to have an allergy to your milk it is NOT your milk itself. It’s impossible for baby to be allergic to YOU. You grew them! It’s likely dairy or gluten in your diet.

~trying to think of anything else for a crash course in breastfeeding~

EBF babies gain weight slower than formula fed babies. This is NORMAL.

EBF babies almost always drop 10% or a little more of bodyweight in first week. Do not stress even if hospital is mentioning it. It is NORMAL. (I stressed, because I didn’t know.) Babies delivered via induction or cesarean are 310% more likely — according to a recent study — to lose more than 10% bodyweight, and hospitals don’t take this into account. 😤😤😤😤